1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hinge device and, more particularly, to a hinge device having a spherical joint.
2. Description of the Related Art
With continuous improvement of information technology, various kinds of electronic devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet PCs, digital cameras, global positioning system (GPS) devices and so on, come out one after another. The electronic devices can further be connected with hinge devices according to needs in use. For example, the hinge device in a car can be used for mounting an object such as a GPS device or a PDA to facilitate watch and operation by users. Furthermore, the object, such as a digital camera, a tablet PC and so on, can also be mounted to the hinge device to facilitate operation.
Generally speaking, the object mounted to the hinge device can be rotated relative to the hinge device, such that the users can adjust the device to an angle at which the object is convenient for operation or watch. The object mounted to the hinge device can be rotated relative to the hinge device via a uniaxial rotatable bracket.
However, although a rotatable range of the device can be improved via the combination of more than two uniaxial rotatable brackets, compared with that of a rotatable structure in a spherical joint type, the rotatable range of the device is still limited. However, in using the rotatable structure in the spherical joint type, when the users need to adjust an angle of the rotatable structure in the spherical joint type, first they need to release a clamp of the rotatable structure, and then they can lock the clamp after adjusting to a suitable angle. Thus, each time the adjustment is performed, the above operation needs to be repeated, which is still inconvenient in use.